What is my inspiration ?

Different people have different inspirations. This is testimony to the sixteen personality types people researchers claim to exist. These range from music, books and movies to people, festivals and food. A quote to live by is: “Without music, life would be a mistake”.

They say music is an outburst of the soul that it articulates what we cannot. If you take a closer look, music is a combination of sounds (instrumental and vocal) that express emotion. From a personal point of view, music is anything that consists of sounds someone put together with raw passion. Music considered pleasant is known to trigger the production of Serotonin and Dopamine in the brain, both happy hormones. Thus, music can be very personal, which is why it consists of endless genres.

Not rock as in the one that acts as an umbrella for metamorphic, igneous and sedimentary stones, but the genre that originate from African American music styles such as boogie-woogie, blues, jazz, Rnb , country music and gospel. Under this genre are subgenres such as nu-rock, punk, hard-core, post hard-core, experimental, psychedelic, Indies and even ones that can stand on their own such as Metal, emo and grunge. Stereotypically, the conventional rocker bears a band t-shirt or two, with dark jeans whereas the metal head can be spotted with a healthy dose of body modifications and an extremity of some sort.

There are some elements present in rock music that entices me. Skillet for example, is a Christian rock/ metal group. Covered in tattoos and piercings, neon coloured hair and piercings, the band combats the stereotypical Christian look and indirectly preaches acceptance as their drummer and guitarist are female. Similar to Skillet, Black Veil Brides consists of 5 band members with Andy Bierserk manning the lead. Frequently, during shows , he takes the liberty to pause the show and put a disdainful person into their place. It is not a secret that we all feel a little out of place sometimes…

Furthermore, quite a lot of the lyrics found in this genre(s) are deep and really speak to the soul. Heavy dirty soul but twenty one pilots is certainly a cry for help to god. The NBHDis another band whose lyrics are laced with dark words. “Sick of screaming let us in,the wires got the best of him”. This song solely focuses on a person’s thoughts about a man who reached his breaking point. Closer to metal than rock, one would find psychosocial. A song by Slipknot that highlighted the fact that some people have a harder time getting through this life. It amazes me that each and every person gets a good dose of life, in many ways, each different from the other.

Knowing this, it is just a blatantly stupid and oblivious to believe the stereotypes set forth by society about this genre and the subcultures that belong to it. These affiliate rockers with drugs, sexism and rebellion. The truth is quite contradictory as this is some of the kindest people I have met and certainly do not resist having a conversation (except for small talk). To further prove my point, the caring nature of these people is epitomized at a mosh pit where despite the thrashing and moshing of limbs, one would go out of their way to help a person in distress.

Maybe it’s the way someone screaming their heart out sounds or maybe it’s the mutual feeling of togetherness experienced in this genres. There’s something about this type of music that makes me smile on a horrible day.

Twenty one pilots: “I’m the kind of guy who takes every moment he knows he confided in music to use it for others to use it”.